Publication Date: 08/18/2015
Publisher: Penguin Group
Imprint: Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Erotic Romance
Pages: 400
ISBN-10: 0425275329
ISBN-13: 978-0425275320
(Received for an honest review from Berkley)
Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, itunes
Shayla Black on the WEB: Website, Blog, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Lexi Blake on the WEB: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads
Synopsis:
From the New York Times bestselling authors of the Masters of Ménage series . . .
They are the Perfect Gentlemen of Creighton Academy: privileged, wealthy, powerful friends with a wild side. But a deadly scandal is about to tear down their seemingly ideal lives . . .
Maddox Crawford’s sudden death sends Gabriel Bond reeling. Not only is he burying his best friend, he’s cleaning up Mad’s messes, including his troubled company. Grieving and restless, Gabe escapes his worries in the arms of a beautiful stranger. But his mind-blowing one-night stand is about to come back to haunt him . . .
Mad groomed Everly Parker to be a rising star in the executive world. Now that he’s gone, she’s sure her job will be the next thing she mourns, especially after she ends up accidentally sleeping with her new boss. If only their night together hadn’t been so incendiary—or Gabe like a fantasy come true . . .
As Gabe and Everly struggle to control the heated tension between them, they discover evidence that Mad’s death was no accident. Now they must bank their smoldering passions to hunt down a murderer—because Mad had secrets that someone was willing to kill for, and Gabe or Everly could be the next target . . .
Thoughts:
Shayla Black and Lexi Blake have teamed up to bring readers a super sexy, suspenseful new book, Scandal Never Sleeps. It is the first in their new Perfect Gentleman series focusing on a group of men who went prep school together at Creighton Academy. They have gone on to have lives of their own but they are still tied together by shared friendship and secrets. This is Shayla Black like you've never read her before. It's something new and different and Blake's influence is certainly felt. There is passion, suspense, intrigue and so much more going on in this one. It's going to cause many sleepless nights!
Shayla Black is well known in erotic romance circles and Lexi Blake may be new to me, but she has several books in the genre herself. I wasn't sure what to expect with this collaborative effort. Sometimes more than one author in one book can be a disadvantage. It makes the voice not as consistent and gives the action a jerky kind of motion. But in this one the transitions are seamless. I don't know what each author contributed or how the tasks were split up, but it never shows in this book. The flow is smooth and fast paced. With this much suspense it would have to be or it would certainly take away from the overall consistency of the book.
'Mad' Maddox Crawford is dead. But the circumstances surrounding his death are anything but normal. His former classmates and good friends have their suspicions about what Mad was up to before his death. The main character in this book is Gabriel Bond, one of Mad's closest friends and the one who has to pick up the pieces with Mad's company after his demise. When Gabe accidentally has a one night stand with one of Mad's employee's things get a little complicated since he's the new boss. Everly Parker is said employee and the female lead for the book. Both characters are what you would expect from the CEO and a high profile executive. They are used to getting what they want. The trouble comes in when they decide they want each other. And boy does it get steamy.
This book being an erotic romance has a lot of sex. That's to be expected. One of the things that I liked about this part of the book was Everly's adventurous side. She was by no means a wallflower. She had a little bit of wild side to her that really suited Gabe. They played well together and were a match that seemed if not perfect, definitely very plausible. I think people who have power, whether it be as the CEO of a company or some other sort, seek that out in those they chose to be with. It made for some interesting romps between these two.
Gabe is your typical corporate man. But something about Mad's death just keeps nagging at him. He is a true friend in the sense that he has to have some kind of resolution in this. The secrets just seem to keep turning up. Cleaning up Mad's mess turns into a full on suspenseful story. I liked the fact that Gabe was hotter than a firecracker in business and in his personal life. He commanded the power he had well and he acted like I expected someone in his position would. Everly was the only thing that set him off his game and that made the romantic connection between some much more palpable. You could feel the energy coming off them and off the pages.
Bottom Line:
Black and Blake did a fantastic job of making the suspense plot the main focus and the romance the added bonus. It gave the story more substance and kept it book sensual and edgy. This is the kind of plot that will keep you up at night wondering how in the world this guy got himself mixed up in all this and wondering when Everly and Gabe are going to figure it all out. The passion is hot and spicy and the characters are well suited for it. A very good new book from two great authors.
Scandal Never Sleeps is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.
I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!
About the Author:
Together, Black and Blake pen the New York Times bestselling Masters of Ménage novels, including Their Virgin Mistress, Their Virgin Secretary and Their Virgin Hostage.
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